GL-7ACA acylase

ABSTRACT

A GL-7ACA acylase having the following characteristics: (a) has ability to catalyze the enzymatic conversion of glutaryl 7-ACA, adipyl 7-ACA, and succinyl 7-ACA, into 7-aminocephalosporanic acid, (b) has a molecular weight of 70,000 dalton (SDS-PAGE) and (c) has N-terminal amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) thereof: Gln-Ser-Glu-Gln-Glu-Lys-Ala-Glu-Glu-. A process for producing GL-7ACA acylase is also provided.

The invention relates to a new GL-7ACA acylase (hereinafter referred to as "GL-7ACA acylase J1"). More particularly, it relates to a new GL-7ACA acylase derived from Bacillus laterosporus J1, a DNA encoding thereof, an expression vector containing said DNA, a microorganism transformed with said expression vector, and the production of the GL-7ACA acylase by culturing said transformant.

GL-7ACA acylase is a general term for an enzyme, which is, in common, capable of hydrolyzing 7-(4-carboxybutanamido)-3-acetoxymethyl-3-cephem-4-carboxylic acid (GL-7ACA) to 7-aminocephalosporan (7-ACA). 7-ACA has been made by methods of chemical conversion of cephalosporin C such as iminoether or nitrosyl chloride method. However, to make cost reduction, an alternative method utilizing enzymatic conversion has been searched for a long time since similar enzymatic conversion was successfully adopted for the production of 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) which is a starting material for penicillins, another family of β-lactam antibiotics. In the course of such efforts, two step enzymatic conversion was devised using D-amino acid oxidase and GL-7ACA acylase. This method has been industrialized as the one where the enzymatic oxidation was substituted by chemical oxidation.

It was reported that Pseudomonas sp. GK16 produced a GL-7ACA acylase and a part of nucleotide sequence of the said acylase gene was clarified [Cf. J., Bacteriol., 163, 1222-1228 (1985)].

The inventors of this invention have conducted extensive studies for searching new GL-7ACA acylases, and as the results, the present inventors have been found a new characteristic GL-7ACA acylase J1 in the cultured broth of a newly isolated organism, Bacillus laterosporus J1 and established industrial production of this enzyme. The GL-7ACA acylase J1 of this invention, as compared with the prior GL-7ACA acylases, is characterized by higher thermostability, its entirely different structure from that of the prior acylase and so on, and further characteristics of this GL-7ACA acylase will be apparent from the description mentioned below.

A strain named Bacillus laterosporus J1 which is a GL-7ACA acylase producer was newly isolated from a soil sample collected in Iwate Prefecture, Japan.

Bacillus laterosporus J1 has the following morphological and physiological characteristics and identified as Bacillus laterosporus according to Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology (Volume 1). The method described in Bergey's Manual was employed principally for this taxonomic study.

1. Morphological characteristics.

Morphological observation of the strain J1 was carried out by the optical microscope with cells grown in Trypticase soy broth (BBL Co., Ltd., U.S.A.) at 37° C.

Strain J1 was a gram-positive, motile bacterium. The cell shapes were rod. Results are shown in Table 1.

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         Morphological characteristics of strain J1.                                    ______________________________________                                         gram stain            positive                                                 color of colony       cream                                                    cell shape            rod                                                      spore                 positive                                                 motility              positive                                                 ______________________________________                                    

2. Physiological characteristics

Physiological characteristics of the strain J1 were summarized in Table 2.

The strain J1 was oxidase positive, catalase positive and 0-F test negative. Gelatin was not liquefied and esculin hydrolysis was negative. Nitrate was reduced with production of N₂ gas. Ribose, sucrose, trehalose and xylose were fermented. Lysine and ornithine were not decarboxylized and arginine was not hydrolyzed. Indole test was negative. Voges-Proskauer test was negative.

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         Physiological characteristics of                                               the strain J1.                                                                 Conditions        Characteristics                                              ______________________________________                                         growth                                                                         in air            +                                                            in anaerobe       -                                                            at pH 6.8         +                                                            at pH 5.8         -                                                            at 2% NaCl        +                                                            at 5% NaCl        -                                                            at 10° C.  -                                                            at 23° C.  +                                                            at 30° C.  +                                                            at 37° C.  +                                                            at 45° C.  +                                                            pigment           -                                                            catalase          +                                                            oxidase           +                                                            OF-test           -                                                            TSI               -/-                                                          IPA               -                                                            H.sub.2 S (SIM medium)                                                                           -                                                            H.sub.2 S (lead acetate)                                                                         -                                                            indole            -                                                            VP                -                                                            Simmons citrate   -                                                            urease (Christensen)                                                                             +w                                                           gelatin liquefaction                                                                             -                                                            esculin hydrolysis                                                                               -                                                            nitrate reduction/gas                                                                            +/+                                                          lysine decarboxylase                                                                             -                                                            ornithine decarboxylase                                                                          -                                                            arginine dihydrolase                                                                             -                                                            acylamidase       -                                                            utilization of                                                                 adonitol          -                                                            arabinose         -                                                            cellobiose        -                                                            dulcitol          -                                                            fructose          -                                                            glucose           -                                                            galactose         -                                                            glycerol          -                                                            inositol          -                                                            inulin            -                                                            lactose           -                                                            maltose           -                                                            mannitol          -                                                            meribiose         -                                                            raffinose         -                                                            rhamnose          -                                                            ribose            +                                                            salicin           -                                                            starch            -                                                            sucrose           +                                                            trehalose         +                                                            xylose            +                                                            mole % G + C      40.0                                                         ______________________________________                                    

The new GL-7ACA acylase of this invention has the following characteristics.

Namely, the new GL-7ACA acylase of this invention

(a) has ability to catalyze the enzymatic conversion of glutaryl 7-ACA, adipyl 7-ACA, and succinyl 7-ACA, into 7-aminocephalosporanic acid,

(b) has a molecular weight of 70,000 dalton (SDS-PAGE) and

(c) has N-terminal amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) of the enzyme: Gln-Ser-Glu-Gln-Glu-Lys-Ala-Glu-Glu.

The new GL-7ACA acylase of this invention can be prepared by recombinant DNA technology, polypeptide synthesis and the like.

Namely, the new GL-7ACA acylase can be prepared by culturing a host cell transformed with an expression vector comprising DNA encoding amino acid sequence of the new GL-7ACA acylase in a nutrient medium and recovering the new GL-7ACA acylase from the cultured broth.

In this process, particulars of which are explained in more detail as follows.

The host cell may include microorganisms [bacteria (e.g. Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, etc.), yeast (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae. etc.), animal cell lines and cultured plant cells]. Preferred examples of the microorganism may include bacteria, especially a strain belonging to the genus Escherichia (e.g. E. coli JM109 ATCC 53323, E. coli HB101 ATCC 33694, E. coli HB101-16 FERM BP-1872, E. coli 294 ATCC 31446, etc.), or the genus Bacillus (e.g. Bacillus subtilis ISW1214, etc.), yeast, especially a strain belonging to the genus Saccharomyces [e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae AH22], animal cell lines [e.g. mouse L929 cell, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell etc.] and the like.

When bacterium, especially E. coli and Bacillus subtilis is used as a host cell, the expression vector is usually composed of at least promoter, initiation codon, DNA encoding amino acid sequence of the new GL-7ACA acylase, termination codon, terminator region and replicatable unit. When yeasts or animal cells are used as host cells, the expression vector is preferably composed of at least promoter, initiation codon, DNA encoding amino acid sequences of the signal peptide and the new GL-7ACA acylase and termination codon, and it is possible that enhancer sequence, 5'- and 3'-noncoding region of the new GL-7ACA acylase, splicing junctions, polyadenylation site and replicatable unit are also inserted into the expression vector.

The promoter for expression of the new GL-7ACA acylase in bacteria comprises promoter and Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence (e.g. AAGG, etc.). Preferable promoter for bacterial expression may include conventionally employed promoter (e.g. PL-promoter and trp-promoter for E. coli) and promoter of the GL-7ACA acylase J1 chromosomal gene. The promoter for expression of the new GL-7ACA acylase in yeast may include the promoter of the TRPl gene, the ADHI or ADHII gene and acid phosphatase (PH05) gene for S. cerevisiae and the promoter for expression of the new GL-7ACA acylase in mammalian cells may include SV40 early or late-promoter, HTLV-LTR-promoter, mouse metallothionein I(MMT)-promoter, vaccinia-promoter and the like.

Preferable initiation codon may include methionine codon (ATG).

The signal peptide may include a signal peptide of conventionally employed other enzymes (e.g. signal peptide of the native t-PA, signal peptide of the native plasminogen) and the like.

The DNA encoding amino acid sequence of the signal peptide or the new GL-7ACA acylase can be prepared in a conventional manner such as a partial or whole DNA synthesis using DNA synthesizer and/or treatment of the complete DNA sequence coding for the new GL-7ACA acylase inserted in a suitable vector [e.g. pACYJ1-3]obtainable from a transformant [e.g. E. coli JM109 (pACYJ1-3) FERM BP-3105]with a suitable enzyme (e.g. restriction enzyme, alkaline phosphatase, polynucleotide kinase, DNA ligase, DNA polymerase, etc.).

The termination codon(s) may include a conventionally employed termination codon (e.g. TAG, TGA, etc.).

The terminator region may include natural or synthetic terminator (e.g. terminator of the GL-7ACA J1 chromosomal gene, synthetic fd phage terminator, etc.).

The replicatable unit is a DNA compound having capable of replicating the whole DNA sequence belonging thereto in a host cell and may include natural plasmid, artificially modified plasmid (e.g. DNA fragment prepared from natural plasmid) and synthetic plasmid and preferable examples of the plasmid may include plasmid pBR322 or artificially modified thereof (DNA fragment obtained from a suitable restriction enzyme treatment of pBR322) for E. coli, yeast 2 μ plasmid or yeast chromosomal DNA for yeast, plasmid pRSVneo ATCC 37198, plasmid pSV2dhfr ATCC 37145, plasmid pdBPV-MMTneo ATCC 37224, plasmid pSV2neo ATCC 37149 for mammalian cells.

The enhancer sequence may include the enhancer sequence (72 b.p.) of SV40.

The polyadenylation site may include the polyadenylation site of SV40.

The splicing junction may include the splicing junction of SV40.

The promoter, initiation codon, DNA encoding amino acid sequence of the new GL-7ACA acylase, termination codon(s) and terminator region can consecutively and circularly be linked with an adequate replicatable unit (plasmid) together, if desired, using an adequate DNA fragment(s) (e.g. linker, other restriction site, etc.) in a conventional manner (e.g. digestion with restriction enzyme, ligation using T4 DNA ligase) to give an expression vector. When mammalian cells are used as host cells, it is possible that enhancer sequence, promoter, 5'-noncoding region of the cDNA of the new GL-7ACA acylase, initiation codon, DNA encoding amino acid sequences of the signal peptide and the new GL-7ACA acylase, termination codon(s), 3'-noncoding region of the cDNA of the new GL-7ACA acylase, splicing junctions and polyadenylation site are consecutively and circularly linked with an adequate replicatable unit together in the above manner.

A host cell can be transformed (transfected) with the expression vector. Transformation (transfection) can be carried out in a conventional manner [e.g. Kushner method for E. coli, calcium phosphate method for mammalian cells, microinjection, etc.] to give a transformant (transfectant).

For the production of the new GL-7ACA acylase in the process of this invention, thus obtained transformant comprising the expression vector is cultured in an aqueous nutrient medium.

The nutrient medium may contain carbon source(s) (e.g. glucose, glycerine, mannitol, fructose, lactose, etc.) and inorganic or organic nitrogen source(s) (e.g. ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, hydrolysate of casein, yeast extract, polypeptone, bactotrypton, beef extract, etc.). If desired, other nutritious sources [e.g. inorganic salts (e.g. sodium or potassium biphosphate, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride), vitamins (e.g. vitamin B₁), antibiotics (e.g. ampicillin, kanamycin), etc.] may be added to the medium. For the culture of mammalian cells, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Minimum Essential Medium (DMEM) supplemented with fetal calf serum and an antibiotic is often used.

The culture of the transformant (including transfectant) may usually be carried out at pH 5.5-8.5 (preferably pH 7-7.5) and 18°-40° C. (preferably 25°-38° C.) for 5-50 hours.

When thus produced new GL-7ACA acylase exists in the culture solution, culture filtrate (supernatant) is obtained by filtration or centrifugation of the cultured broth. From the culture filtrate, the new GL-7ACA acylase can be purified in a conventional manner as generally employed for the purification and isolation of natural or synthetic proteins (e.g. dialysis, gel filtration, affinity column chromatography using anti-GL-7ACA acylase monoclonal antibody, column chromatography on a suitable adsorbent, high performance liquid chromatography, etc.). When the produced new GL-7ACA acylase exists in periplasm and cytoplasm of the cultured transformant, the cells are collected by filtration and centrifugation, and the cell wall and/or cell membrane thereof are destroyed by, for example, treatment with super sonic waves and/or lysozyme to give debris. The debris can be dissolved in a suitable aqueous solution (e.g. 8M aqueous urea, 6M aqueous guanidium salts). From the solution, the new GL-7ACA acylase can be purified in a conventional manner as exemplified above. If it is necessary to refold the new GL-7ACA acylase produced in E. coli, the refolding can be carried out in a conventional manner.

This invention further provides a process for the preparation of a compound of the formula : ##STR1## wherein R¹ is acetoxy, hydroxy and hydrogen or its salt, which comprises contacting a compound of the formula: ##STR2## wherein R¹ is the same as defined above and

R² is carboxy(C₁ -C₆)alkanoyl or D-glutamyl or its salt,

with the cultured broth of a microorganism transformed with an expression vector comprising DNA encoding the new GL-7ACA acylase of this invention or its processed material.

The carboxy(C₁ -C₆)alkanoyl for R² may include glutaryl, succinyl, adipyl and the like.

Suitable salt of the compounds (I) and (II) may be alkali metal salt (e.g. sodium salt, potassium salt).

If the GL-7ACA acylase activity exists in transformed cells, the following preparations can be exemplified as a processed material of the cultured broth.

(1) Raw cells; separated from the cultured broth in a conventional manner such as filtration and centrifugation,

(2) dried cells; obtained by drying said raw cells in a conventional manner such as lyophilization and vacuum drying,

(3) cell-free extract; obtained by destroying said raw or dried cells in a conventional manner (e.g. autolysis of the cells using an organic solvent, grinding the cells with alumina, sea sand, etc. or treating the cells with super sonic waves),

(4) enzyme solution; obtained by purification or partial purification of said cell-free extracts in a conventional manner (e.g. column chromatography) and

(5) immobilized cells or enzyme; prepared by immobilizing said cells or enzyme in a conventional manner (e.g. a method using acrylamide, glass bead, ion exchange resin, etc.).

If the GL-7ACA acylase activity exists in a culture filtrate of transformed cells, the culture filtrate (supernatant), enzyme solution and immobilized cells or enzymes can be exemplified as a processed material of the cultured broth.

The reaction comprising a contact of the compound (II) with the enzyme can be conducted in an aqueous medium such as water or a buffer solution, that is, it can be usually conducted by dissolving or suspending the cultured broth or its processed material in an aqueous medium such as water or a buffer solution containing the compound (II).

Preferable pH of the reaction mixture, concentration of the compound (II), reaction time and reaction temperature may vary with properties of a cultured broth or its processed material to be used. Generally, the reaction is carried out at pH 6 to 9, preferably pH 7 to 9, at 5° to 50° C., preferably 20° to 45° C. for 2 to 50 hours.

The concentration of the compound (II) as a substrate in the reaction mixture may be preferably selected from a range of 1 to 100 mg/ml.

Thus produced compound (I) can be purified and isolated from the reaction mixture in a conventional manner.

Brief explanation of the accompanying drawings is as follows.

FIG. 1 shows restriction cleavage map of plasmid pACYJ1-1.

FIG. 2 shows construction and restriction cleavage map of plasmid pACYJ1-3.

FIG. 3 shows construction and restriction cleavage map of plasmid pACYJ1-B1.

FIGS. 4-1 through 4-4 show nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO. 2) and deduced amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 3) of the GL-7ACA acylase J1 chromosomal gene.

FIG. 5 shows optimum temperature of the GL-7ACA acylase J1.

FIG. 6 shows optimum pH of the GL-7ACA acylase J1.

FIG. 7 shows pH profile of stability of the GL-7ACA acylase J1.

In the following Examples, some plasmids, enzymes, such as restriction enzymes, T4 DNA ligases, and other materials were obtained from commercial sources and used according to the indication by suppliers. Operations employed for the cloning of DNA, transformation of host cells, cultivation of transformants, recovery of the new GL-7ACA acylase from the cultured broth, and the like are well known in the art or can be adapted from literatures.

Following Examples are given for the purpose of illustrating this invention, but not limited thereto.

EXAMPLE 1 Isolation of the gene encoding GL-7ACA acylase of Bacillus laterosporus J1 1.1. Preparation of chromosomal DNA of B. laterosporus J1.

Chromosomal DNA of Bacillus laterosporus J1 was prepared according to the method of Harris-Warrick et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 72: 2207-2211, 1975. B. laterosporus J1 was grown at 30° C. for 40 hours on Bouillon agar (Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd.), suspended in saline, harvested by centrifugation and washed once with 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8) containing 1 mM EDTA. Resultant cell pellets of approximately 9 g (wet weight) was suspended in 20 ml of 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8) containing 20% sucrose and 1 mM EDTA and treated with 25 mg of lysozyme at 37° C. for 30 min. Furthermore, to this suspension, 50 ml of 100 mM EDTA (pH 9.6)-1% lauroyl sarcosylate and 10 ml of 5 mg/ml of pronase E were added and the resultant mixture was incubated at 50° C. for 2 hours. After addition of 1.25 g of CsCl to each 1 ml of the lysate, it was applied to equilibrium density gradient centrifugation. After centrifugation, chromosomal DNA fractions were pooled and dialyzed against 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8) containing 1 mM EDTA (TE buffer).

1.2. Construction of genomic DNA library of B. laterosporus J1

Three hundred micrograms of chromosomal DNA of B. laterosporus J1 was partially cleaved with 3.75 units of restriction endonuclease Sau3AI and the resultant DNA fragments were applied to 10-40% sucrose density gradient centrifugation in a rotor SRP28 (Beckman, U.S.A.) at 26,000 rpm for 20 hours. Fractions of DNA with an average size of 7-9 kilo bases (kb) were pooled and DNA was collected by ethanol precipitation and dissolved in TE buffer. The plasmid vector pHSG298 DNA (Takara Shuzo, Japan) (20 μg) was cleaved with BamHI (Takara Shuzo, Japan), followed by phenol extraction and ethanol precipitation. The DNA was dissolved in 200 μl of 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8) containing 10 mM EDTA and incubated at 37° C. for 20 min with 1 unit of bacterial alkaline phosphatase (Takara Shuzo, Japan). The reaction mixture was treated with phenol extraction and ethanol precipitation and dissolved in 40 μl of TE buffer. Sau3AI partially cleaved chromosomal DNA fragments of 20 μg were ligated at 12° C. for 16 hours with 500 units of T4 DNA ligase (Takara Shuzo, Japan) to 5 μg of the linearized and dephosphorylated pHSG298. The ligation mixture was used for transformation of E. coli JM109 (Toyobo Co., Ltd., Japan). Transformation was performed according to the procedure of O. Hanahan (Cf. J. Mol. Biol. 166, 557-580 (1983)). Except if otherwise specified, the procedure of Hanahan was adopted in all the transformation described later. The transformants were selected on LM agar containing 20 μg of Kanamycin /ml. The number of transformants was 2,000.

1.3. Selection of a clone possessing a plasmid containing a GL-7ACA acylase gene

A clone possessing a plasmid containing GL-7ACA acylase gene was screened among the genomic DNA library of B. laterosporus J1 by the following HPLC method.

Transformant colonies were picked up and grown overnight at 30° C. in 1 ml of 2% Bouillon (Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd., Japan) supplemented with 1 mM isopropyl-β-D-galactoside (IPTG; Sigma Chemical Co., Ltd., U.S.A.). Cells were harvested by centrifugation and resulting cell pellets were used for assay. Reaction mixture (200 μl ) containing 100 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8), 2 mg of GL-7ACA and cell pellets were thoroughly mixed and incubated for 10 min at 37° C. The reaction was terminated by the addition of 200 μl of 4% acetic acid. Samples were applied to a Inertsil ODS-2 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm) (Gasukuro Kogyo Co., Ltd., Japan) and elution was performed with 0.567 g/l of Na₂ HPO₄, 0.36 g/l of KH₂ PO₄ and 2-4% methanol. 7ACA was detected with absorption at 254 nm.

1.4. Subcloning of the gene encoding GL-7 ACA acylase (Cf. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2)

Plasmid DNA was extracted from the positive clone by the cleared lysate method(Cf.Clewell and Helinski, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U.S.A. 62, 1159-1166, 1969) and named pACYJ1-1. The size of the insert DNA was estimated to be approximately 8.6 kb by agarose gel electrophoresis. The recombinant plasmid pACYJ1-1 DNA (10 μg) was cleaved with KpnI and Eco47III (Takara Shuzo, Japan) and the resulting DNA fragment (2.6 kb) of the insert was separated by agarose gel electrophoresis, eluted from the gel by electrophoresis, treated with phenol extraction and

ethanol precipitation and dissolved in TE buffer. This DNA fragment (1 μg) of the insert was ligated with 25 units of T4 DNA ligase to 1 μg of pHSG298 DNA which was linearized by digestion with KpnI and HincII (Takara Shuzo) and isolated similarly as the insertion fragment of pACYJ-1. E. coli JM109 was transformed with this ligation mixture. Transformants were selected on LM agar plates containing trypton(Difco) 1%, yeast extract(Difco) 0.5%, sodium chloride 10 mM, MgSO₄ 10 mM, agar 1.5% and 20 μg/ml of kanamycin and confirmed by criteria of loss of β-galactosidase activity, size of an insert and presence of GL-7ACA acylase activity. Activity of GL-7ACA acylase was measured by the HPLC method as described in Example 1.3. From one of the recombinant strain, plasmid DNA was extracted by the cleared lysate method and named pACYJ1-3.

EXAMPLE 2 Determination of nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding GL-7ACA acylase of Bacillus laterosporus J1 2.6. Determination of nucleotide sequence

Restriction endonuclease mapping of the insert of pACYJ1-3 was performed using restriction endonucleases BalI, BglII, ClaI, DraI, EcoRV, HpaI, NcoI, PstI and XhoI (All from Takara Shuzo). Appropriate restriction endonuclease cleaved DNA fragments were subcloned into M13 phage vector and used for determination of the nucleotide sequences. Nucleotide sequence was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method (Cf. Sanger et al. Proc. Natl Acad Sci., U.S.A. 74, 5463-5467 (1977)) using M13 sequencing kit (Toyobo Co., Ltd., Japan). The enzyme used was T7 DNA polymerase (Sequenase) and 7-deaza dGTP and dITP were separately adopted as the nucleotide analog. To determine the sequence located in the middle of a long DNA fragment, one of the restriction endonuclease cleaved DNA fragment was treated with Ba131, recloned into M13 phage vector and used for sequencing. Gel electrophoresis was performed at 2200V for 5 or 13 hours using 5% polyacrylamide gel containing 7M urea of 80 cm long. The nucleotide sequence of the insert of pACYJ1-3 was shown in FIG. 4. One open reading frame of 1902 bp was recognized. This open reading frame was confirmed as the gene encoding the GL-7ACA acylase of B. laterosporus J1 by following two results. 1) The amino-terminal sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) of GL-7ACA acylase J1 determined by gas-sequencing method (details will be described in the next Example) were identical with the amino acid sequences between codons at positions 1 and 9. This indicated that processing occurred where N-terminal peptide of 27 amino acid residues long was excised. 2) The molecular weight of 70,000 of the GL-7ACA acylase estimated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was well coincided with that of 69,227 calculated from the deduced processed protein sequences for the open reading frame (details will be described later). No similarity was recognized between the amino acid sequence of GL-7ACA acylase J1 (SEQ ID NO: 3) and those of the other known cephalosporin acylases.

EXAMPLE 3. (Cf. FIG. 3) Expression of the gene for GL-7ACA acylase J1 in Bacillus subtilis.

The recombinant plasmid pACYJ1-3 of 10 μg was cleaved with EcoRI and XhoI (Takara Shuzo) and the resulting DNA fragment of the insert of 2.6 kb which contained the structural gene for GL-7ACA acylase J1 and its own promoter and terminator was separated by agarose gel electrophoresis, eluted from the gel by electrophoresis, treated with phenol extraction and ethanol precipitation and dissolved in TE buffer. Meanwhile, and E. coli-B.subtilis shuttle vector named pHY300PLK (Takara Shuzo) (10 μg) was cleaved with EcoRI and SalI and the resulting DNA fragment of 4.9 kb was purified the same as described above. The purified EcoRI-XhoI cleaved fragment (1 μg) of pACYJ1-3 and EcoRI-SalI cleaved fragment (1 μg) of pHY300PLK were ligated at 12° C. for 16 hours with 25 units of T4 DNA ligase. E coli MC1061 was transformed with this ligation mixture Transformants were selected on LM agar plates containing 35 μg/ml ampicillin (Fujisawa Pharm. Co., Ltd.) and confirmed by criteria of size of an insert and presence of GL-7ACA acylase activity From one of the recombinant strain, plasmid DNA was extracted by the cleared lysate method and named pACYJ1-B1. Bacillus subtilis ISW1214 (Takara Shuzo) was transformed with this plasmid pACYJ1-B1 (1 82 g). Transformation was performed according to the procedure of C. Anagostopoulos et al (Cf. C. Anagostopoulos and J. Spizizen, J. Bacteriol. 81, 741-746 (1961)). Transformants were selected on L agar containing 20 μg/ml tetracycline. B. subtilis ISW1214 carrying pACYJ1-B1 which was obtained as above was grown at 30° C. for 18 hours in L broth containing 20 μg/ml tetracycline. Supernatant and cell pellet were prepared by centrifugation of the cultured broth at 10,000 g for 20 min. GL-7ACA acylase activity in the supernatant, cell pellet and whole culture was determined by HPLC assay as described in Example 1.3. The GL-7ACA acylase activities of the supernatant, cell pellet and whole culture were 0.63, 0.04 and 0.70 unit/gram of bacteria (wet weight), respectively. Approximately 90% of GL-7ACA activity was recovered from the supernatant. Besides, it should be noted that GL-7ACA acylase activity was not detected in the whole culture of the original strain B. laterosporus J1 which was grown in the same manner as mentioned above and the GL-7ACA acylase activity thereof was able to be detected only when the cells were grown on agar plates.

Purification of the GL-7ACA acylase of B. laterosporus J1 4.1 Purification of the acylase from a recombinant E. coli

An aqueous medium (L broth) of 200 ml consisting 1% tryptone (Difco Laboratories, U.S.A.), 1.5% yeast extract (Difco) and 0.5% NaCl was introduced into each of five 500 ml flasks, sterilized at 121° C. for 20 min by an autoclave and supplemented with 20 μg/ml kanamycin sulfate (Meiji Seika Co., Ltd., Japan) sterilized separately by filtration. To these media was inoculated a loopful of slant culture of E. coli JM109 possessing pACYJ1-1, and the organism was grown at 30° C. for 24 hours with shaking at 300 rpm on a rotary shaker. Meanwhile, an aqueous medium (18 l ) comprising the same ingredients as mentioned above plus 0.04% Adecanol (Asahi Denka Co., Ltd., Japan) was introduced into a 30 l jar fermenter (Komatsugawa Co., Ltd., Japan) sterilized at 121° C. for 15 min and supplemented with 0.25 mg/ml IPTG sterilized separately by filtration. To the medium was inoculated whole volume of the cultured broth as obtained above, whereafter the organism was grown at 30° C. for 18 hours. After the completion of the culture, the cells were harvested by continuous flow centrifugation at 8,000 rpm. The cell pellet of approximately 80 g obtained was suspended in 320 ml of 0.1M phosphate buffer (pH 8) and disrupted in an ice-water bath by 5 min of sonication. The sonicated suspension was centrifuged at 8,000 g for 10 min and to the resulting supernatant, Polymin P (Bethesda Research Laboratories, U.S.A.) was added to a final concentration of 0.3%. After stirred at 4° C. for 30 min, the mixture was centrifuged at 8,000 g for 20 min. The supernatant was dialyzed against 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.5). This crude extract was applied onto a column of DEAE-Toyopearl 650M (Tosoh Cooperation, Japan) (bed volume: 100 ml) which had been equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.5). After washed with the same buffer, the column was eluted with a linear gradient of NaCl (0-0.5M) in 300 ml of 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.5). Fractions containing GL-7ACA acylase activity were pooled and dialyzed against 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.5). The dialyzate was applied onto a column of DEAE-Toyopearl 650S (Tosoh Cooperation) (bed volume : 30 ml) which had been equilibrated with the same buffer. After washed with the same buffer, the column was eluted with a linear gradient of NaCl (0-0.35M) in 100 ml of 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.5). Active fractions were pooled and dialyzed against 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8.0). The dialyzate was applied onto a column of HCA 100S (Mitsui Toatsu Co., Ltd., Japan) (bed volume : 20 ml) which had been equilibrated with 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8.0). After washed with the same buffer, the column was eluted with a linear gradient of phosphate buffer (pH 8.0) (0.05-0.4M) (60 ml). Active fractions were pooled and dialyzed against 0.1M phosphate buffer (pH 8.0). To this dialysate, ammonium sulfate was added to make a final concentration of 35% and applied onto a column of Butyl-Toyopearl 650S (Toso Co., Ltd.) (bed volume : 20 ml) equilibrated with the same buffer containing ammonium sulfate of 35% saturation. After washed with the same buffer, the column was eluted with a linear gradient of ammonium sulfate (35-0%) in 0.1M phosphate buffer (pH 8.0). Active fractions were pooled and dialyzed against 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.5). The dialysate was applied onto an HPLC column of DEAE-G (Waters Co., Ltd., U.S.A.) (0.82×7.5 cm) equilibrated with the same buffer. Elution was performed with a linear gradient of NaCl (0-0.5M) in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.5) at a flow rate of 3 ml/min over 30 min. Fractions containing GL-7ACA acylase activity were pooled and concentrated by ultrafiltration with UF-10PS filter (Tosoh Cooperation). The total quantity of the purified enzyme preparation was 9.6 mg and its purity was estimated to be 95%.

4.2 Purification of the acylase from a recombinant Bacillus subtilis

An aqueous medium (L broth) (180 ml) containing 1% tryptone (Difco Laboratories), 0.5% yeast extract (Difco) and 0.5% NaCl was introduced into each of two 500 ml flasks, sterilized at 121° C. for 20 min by an autoclave and supplemented with 20 μg/ml tetracycline (Taito-Pfizer Co., Ltd., Japan) sterilized separately by filtration. To these media was inoculated a loopful of slant culture of B. subtilis ISW1214 possessing pACYJ1-B1, respectively and the organism was grown at 30° C. for 24 hours with shaking. Meanwhile, L broth (1.8 l) was introduced into each of two 5 l flasks, sterilized at 121° C. for 20 min and supplemented with tetracycline. To each of these media was inoculated whole volume of the cultured broth as obtained above, whereafter the organism was grown at 30° C. with shaking at 300 rpm on a rotary shaker until its optical density at 600 nm came to 2.5. The cultured broth was then centifuged at 10,000 g for 20 min to remove cell pellets. The resulting supernatant (3.6 l) was dialyzed against tap water and then against 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8). The dialysate was applied onto a column of DEAE-Toyopearl 650M (bed volume : 100 ml) which had been equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8). After washed with the same buffer, the column was eluted with 200 mM NaCl-20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8). Active fractions were pooled, adjusted to 60% saturation with ammonium sulfate, stirred for 30 min and centrifuged at 10,000 g for 20 min. The resulting supernatant was further adjusted to 80% saturation with ammonium sulfate, stirred and centrifuged as above. The resulting pellet was dissolved in 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8) containing ammonium sulfate of 45% saturation and applied onto a column of Toyopearl-HW55F (Toso Co., Ltd.) (bed volume : 30 ml). The column was eluted with ammonium sulfate of 35% saturation in 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8). Active fractions were pooled and dialyzed against 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8). The dialysate was applied onto an HPLC column of TSK gel G2000 SW (Toso Co., Ltd.) (2.15×60 cm). The column was eluted with 500 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8). Active fractions were pooled, dialyzed against 200 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8) and applied onto a column of DEAE-Toyopearl 650M (bed volume: 1 ml). The column was eluted with 200 mM NaCl-20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8). Active fractions were pooled and dialyzed against 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8). The total quantity of the final enzyme preparation was 1 mg and its purity was estimated to be 93%.

EXAMPLE 5 Characterization of the GL-7ACA acylase of B. laterosporus J1 from an E. coli recombinant 5.1 Specific enzvme activity

The activity of the GL-7ACA acylase J1 was determined by HPLC assay. Reaction mixture (200 μl ) containing (a) 100 mM glycine buffer (pH 9), 1.4-20 mM GL-7ACA and 11 μg of enzyme or (b) 100 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8), 0.16-5 mM GL-7ACA and 5 μg of the enzyme was used. R mixtures were incubated for 2 min at 37° C. and the reaction was terminated by addition of 200 μl of 4% acetic acid. Conditions for HPLC were the same as those described in Example 1.3. All assays used later in this section was HPLC method. Specific enzyme activity was expressed as unit per mg of protein. Protein concentrations were determined by Bio-Rad protein assay kit (Bio-Rad Co., Ltd., U.S.A.) with bovine serum albumin as a standard. Maximum specific enzyme activity (Vmax) and Michaelis constant (Km) were calculated from slope and intersection which were obtained by Lineweaver-Burk plot (Cf. M. Dixon and E. C. Webb, Enzymes, Longmans, London, 1958). Maximum specific enzyme activity of GL-7ACA acylase J1 in glycine buffer (pH 9) was 5.3 units/mg and that in Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8) was 4.8 units/mg. Km values of GL-7ACA acylase J1 in glycine buffer (pH 9) was 3.2 mM and that in Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8) was 0.14 mM.

5.2. Substrate profile

Enzyme activity was determined by HPLC assay. Reaction mixture (200 μl) containing 20 μmol of Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8), 2 mg of a substrate and 22 μg of the enzyme was used. The reaction mixture was incubated at 37° C. for 2 min and the reaction was terminated by addition of 4% acetic acid. The relative enzyme activity was expressed as a percentage compared to the activity for GL-7ACA. The result was shown in Table 3.

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                         Substrate profile of GL-7ACA acylase J1.                                       Substrates       Relative enzyme activity                                      ______________________________________                                         Succinyl 7ACA    6.1                                                           Glutaryl 7ACA    100                                                           Adipyl 7ACA      68                                                            D-Glutamyl 7ACA  0.55                                                          Cephalosporin C  N.D.                                                          N-Acetyl Cephalosporin C                                                                        N.D.                                                          Cephalothin      N.D.                                                          ______________________________________                                          N.D. (not detected)                                                      

5.3. Effect of temperature a) Optimum temperature (Cf. FIG. 5)

Reaction mixture (200 μl) containing 20 μmol of Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8), 0.4 mg of GL-7ACA and 22 μg of the enzyme was used. Reactions were performed for 2 min at various temperatures from 25° to 50° C. The optimum temperature was 40° C.

b) Termostability

23 μg/ml of partially purified GL-7ACA acylase J1 (purity 16%) was treated at 45° C. for 2 hours in 0.1M phosphate buffer (pH 8) and the residual enzyme activities were assayed in the reaction mixture containing 0.1M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8), 2 mg/ml of GL-7ACA and 2.3 μg/ml of the treated enzyme. Reaction was performed at 37° C. for 2 min.

5.4. Effect of pH. a) Optimum pH. (Cf. FIG. 6)

Reaction mixture (200 μl) containing 20 μmol of buffer (MacIlvain buffer used at pH 6, phosphate buffer used between pH 6-8, Tris-HCl buffer between pH 7-9 and glycine buffer between pH 8-9), 0.4 mg of GL-7ACA and 22 μg of the enzyme was used. Reaction was performed at 37° C. for 10 min. Optimum pH for GL-7ACA acylase J1 was 8.

b) pH profile of stability. (Cf. FIG. 7)

One hundred μg/ml of GL-7ACA acylase J1 was treated at 50° C. for 1 hour in 0.1M buffer of various pH (phosphate buffer used for pH 6, 7 and 8 and Tris-HCl buffer used at pH 9). The residual enzyme activity was assayed in the reaction mixture (200 μl) containing 20 μmol of phosphate buffer (pH 8), 0.4 mg of GL-7ACA and 2 μg of the treated enzyme. Reaction was performed at 37° C. for 10 min.

1 5.5. Inhibition by reaction products a) Effect of reaction products on the enzvme activity of GL-7ACA acylase J1

Inhibitory activity of reaction products, namely 7-ACA and glutaric acid on the enzyme activity of GL-7ACA acylase J1 was examined. The enzyme activity was assayed in the presence of various concentrations of 7-ACA or glutaric acid. For determination of Ki of 7-ACA, reaction mixture (200 μl) containing 20 μmole of glycine buffer (pH 9), 0.39-2.0 μmole of GL-7ACA, 0.3-0.48 μmole of 7-ACA and 11 μg of enzyme was used and the reaction was performed at 37° C. for 6 min. For determination of Ki of glutaric acid, reaction mixture (200 μl) containing (a) 20 μmole of glycine buffer (pH 9), 0.26-3.0 μmol of GL-7ACA, 2-10 μmol of glutaric acid and 11 μg of the enzyme (b) 20 μmol of Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8), 0.05-1.0 μmol of GL-7ACA, 0.25-0.1 μmol of glutaric acid and 5 μg of the enzyme was used. The reaction was performed at 37° C. for 3 min. Lineweaver-Burk plots in the absence and presence of both inhibitors were shown to possess the same intersection at vertical axis, indicating that mode of inhibition by both inhibitors was competitive. Ki values were calculated from the apparent Michaelis constants (Kmapp), Km and Vmax. Ki values of 7-ACA was 2.0 mM. Ki value of glutaric acid in the reaction using 0.1M glycine buffer (pH 9) was 53 mM whereas that in the reaction using 0.1M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8) was 0.99 mM.

b) Effect of various enzyme inhibitors.

Effect of p-chloromercuribenzoate (pCMB, Sigma Chemical Co., Ltd.), phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF, Sigma) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA, Nacalai Tesque Inc., Japan) on the activity of GL-7ACA acylase J1 was examined as follows. Eleven μg of GL-7ACA acylase J1 was treated at 37° C. for 3 hours with 1.0 or 5.0 mM pCMB, 1.0 or 5.0 mM PMSF, or 1.0 or 5.0 mM EDTA in 200 μl of 0.1 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8). Residual activity of the treated enzyme was assayed by adding 22 μl of GL-7ACA (20 mg/ml) as a substrate to the mixture. The reaction was performed at 37° C for 10 min. Residual activity was expressed as a percentage compared to the activity of the enzyme treated with blank solution. The results are shown in the following Table 4.

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                         Effect of inhibitors on acylase activity of                                    GL-7ACA acylase J1                                                             Inhibitor (mM)                                                                               Relative activity (%)                                            ______________________________________                                         None          100                                                              EDTA(1 mM)    100                                                              EDTA(5 mM)    102                                                              PMSF(1 mM)     90                                                              PMSF(5 mM)     78                                                              pCMB(1 mM)    106                                                              pCMB(5 mM)    104                                                              ______________________________________                                    

5.6. Determination of isoelectric point (pI)

Analytical isoelectric focusing of GL-7ACA acylase J1 was performed according to the method of Olsson et al (Cf. B. Olsson, C. E. Nord, T. Wadstrom and B. Wretlind, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 1. 157-162 (1977)). The preparations of GL-7ACA acylase J1 purified from recombinant strains of E coli and B. subtilis were applied on thin layer of 4% polyacrylamide gel containing 2% Ampholine pH range 3.5-10 (Pharmacia LKB Biotechnology, Sweden). The proteins were electrofocused for 2 hours at 100 volts using isoelectric focusing apparatus SJ-1071EC (ATTO Co., Ltd., Japan). After electrofocusing, the gel was stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 and the isoelectric point was determined from the calibration curve made with pI markers (Pharmacia LKB Technology) which were run simultaneously with the sample. The pI values of the preparations of GL-7ACA acylase J1 purified from recombinant strains of E. coli and B. subtilis were identical and estimated to be 4.7.

5.7 Determination of molecular weight by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed by the procedure described by Laemmli (Cf. U. K. Laemmli; Nature 237, 680-685 (1970)). Egg white lysozyme (molecular weight 14,000), soybean trypsin inhibitor (21,000), bovine carbonic anhydrase (31,000), egg white ovalbumin (43,000), bovine serum albumin (68,000), rabbit muscle phosphorylase b (97,000) were purchased from Bio-Rad Laboratories and used as molecular weight standards The final preparation of GL-7ACA acylase J1 purified from either a recombinant E. coli or a recombinant B. subtilis showed one homogeneous band on SDS-gel electrophoresis. The molecular weights of the two GL-7ACA acylase J1 preparations were identical and calculated to be 70,000.

5.8. Determination of amino acid sequence

The preparations of GL-7ACA acylase J1 purified from recombinant strains of E. coli and B. subtilis were denatured by its incubation at 37° C. for 30 min in 8M urea and then applied to a reversed phase HPLC. Column used was Cosmosil 5C4-300 (4.6 mm × 5 cm, Nacalai tesque). Elution was performed with a linear gradient of acetonitrile (30% to 60%) in 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid at a flow rate of 1 ml/min over 20 min. The amino acid sequences of the two preparations of J1 acylase were determined by a gas-phase sequencer 470A (Applied Biosystems, U.S.A.). The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the two preparations were identical and were Gln-Ser-Glu-Gln-Glu-Lys-Ala-Glu-Glu (SEQ ID NO: 1).

The newly isolated Bacillus laterosporus J1 and the transformants as mentioined below in which expression plasmids obtained in the above Example were inserted, have been deposited with one of the INTERNATIONAL DEPOSITORY AUTHORITY ON THE BUDAPEST TREATY, Fermentation Research Institute (FRI), Agency of Industrial Science and Technology at 1-3, Higashi 1 chome, Tsukubashi, Ibaraki-ken 305, Japan on Sep. 18, 1990.

    ______________________________________                                         Organism                Deposit number                                         ______________________________________                                         Bacillus laterosporus J1                                                                               FERM BP-3106                                           Escherichia coli JM109 (pACYJ1-3)                                                                      FERM BP-3105                                           Bacillus subtilis ISW1214 (pACYJ1-B1)                                                                  FERM BP-3107                                           ______________________________________                                    

    __________________________________________________________________________     SEQUENCE LISTING                                                               (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:                                                       (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 3                                                   (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 9 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (v) FRAGMENT TYPE: N-terminal                                                  (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:                                        GlnSe rGluGlnGluLysAlaGluGlu                                                   15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 2468 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: unknown                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                              (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                               (B) LOCATION: 210..2111                                                       (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: matpeptide                                                       (B) LOCATION: 291..2111                                                        (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:                                        TCACATTGACAGTTAAGCAATTTTTATTAAATATTACATACCAACTTCCACATATATCAA60                 TAAGGTTTATACTTTATTGATATAGCAACTATAATAATCCAACTAA ATACCTATATCCTT120               TTTCCCGCGAATGTCCTATTTACTTATTTTTCCTATCGATATAATATTAGTTTGAAAATT180                TTAAAAATAAAGAAAATGGAGGTGTGTGCATGAATAGAAAGAAAAAATTTCTT233                        MetAsnArgLysLysLysPheLeu                                                      27-25-20                                                                       TCTATGCTGCTGACTGTTCTTTTAGTCACATCATTATTTAGCAGTGTG281                            SerMetLeuLeuThr ValLeuLeuValThrSerLeuPheSerSerVal                              15-10-5                                                                        GCTTTTGGGCAGTCAGAGCAGGAAAAGGCAGAAGAACTTTATCAGTAT329                            AlaPheGlyGlnSe rGluGlnGluLysAlaGluGluLeuTyrGlnTyr                              1510                                                                           GAACTTAAGACTGACGTTATGGTAGAAATGCGCGATGGTGTAAAACTG377                            GluLeuLysThrAspValM etValGluMetArgAspGlyValLysLeu                              152025                                                                         CCTACAGATATTTACCTGCCGGTTGCCAAAACGGAGCAAGAAAAGAAA425                            ProThrAspIleTyrLeuProValAla LysThrGluGlnGluLysLys                              30354045                                                                       GATGGTTTTCCTACGCTTGTGTTTCGAACTCCTTACAACAAGGATACA473                            AspGlyPheProThrLeuValPhe ArgThrProTyrAsnLysAspThr                              505560                                                                         TATGGGAAAACTGAAGGTCCTTTCTTTGCAAAAAGAGGCTATGCAGTG521                            TyrGlyLysThrGluGlyProPh ePheAlaLysArgGlyTyrAlaVal                              657075                                                                         GTTGTTCAGGATACACGTGGCCGCTACAAGTCAGAAGGAGAATGGAAC569                            ValValGlnAspThrArgGlyArgT yrLysSerGluGlyGluTrpAsn                              808590                                                                         TTTGTATTTGATGATGCCAAGGATGGCTATGATTTAATTGAATGGGCT617                            PheValPheAspAspAlaLysAspGlyTyr AspLeuIleGluTrpAla                              95100105                                                                       GCAGTTCAGGATTTCAGTACTGGGAAGGTTGGCACAATGGGCCTATCT665                            AlaValGlnAspPheSerThrGlyLysValGlyThrMet GlyLeuSer                              110115120125                                                                   TACATGGCCTATACCCAGTATGTATTGGCTGAATCAAAACCGCCTCAT713                            TyrMetAlaTyrThrGlnTyrValLeuAlaGluSe rLysProProHis                              130135140                                                                      CTTGTTACAATGATTCCGCTTGAAGGGATGAGCAATCCTGCTGAAGAA761                            LeuValThrMetIleProLeuGluGlyMetSerA snProAlaGluGlu                              145150155                                                                      GTCTTTTTTACAGGCGGAGCTATGCAGCTAGACCGCTATTTATCATGG809                            ValPhePheThrGlyGlyAlaMetGlnLeuAspArg TyrLeuSerTrp                              160165170                                                                      ACTTTGGGCCAGGCGGTAGATACAGCAAGACGACTTGACGAAAAGAAT857                            ThrLeuGlyGlnAlaValAspThrAlaArgArgLeuAspGlu LysAsn                              175180185                                                                      GGAAATACTGTTAACCAGGATAAGATTAAAAAAGCGTTAGATGATTAT905                            GlyAsnThrValAsnGlnAspLysIleLysLysAlaLeuAspAspTyr                               1 90195200205                                                                  GAGAAGTGGCTTAATCATATGCCAAGATCTAAGGTGGCACCATTAAAC953                            GluLysTrpLeuAsnHisMetProArgSerLysValAlaProLeuA sn                              210215220                                                                      CAAATGATTGATTGGTGGAAAGAAGCGATGGATCATCCTGAGTATGAC1001                           GlnMetIleAspTrpTrpLysGluAlaMetAspHisProGluTyr Asp                              225230235                                                                      GAGTATTGGAAGAGCATCTCTCCTCAGGAACAACATGATACATGGCCA1049                           GluTyrTrpLysSerIleSerProGlnGluGlnHisAspThrTrpPro                               240245250                                                                      GTACCAACCTATCATGTTGGGGGATGGTACGATATTTTACTAAACGGA1097                           ValProThrTyrHisValGlyGlyTrpTyrAspIleLeuLeuAsnGly                               2 55260265                                                                     ACATCTAAAAACTATATTGGGATTACAGAAAATGGTCCGACAGAAAGA1145                           ThrSerLysAsnTyrIleGlyIleThrGluAsnGlyProThrGluArg                               270 275280285                                                                  TATTTGCCTGCTTTAGAGAAAACCGTAAACATTCAAGACACGCAAAAA1193                           TyrLeuProAlaLeuGluLysThrValAsnIleGlnAspThrGlnLys                                290295300                                                                     TTATTAATTGGACCATGGACTCACGGATATCCGCAAACAGCGGTGGGG1241                           LeuLeuIleGlyProTrpThrHisGlyTyrProGlnThrAlaValGly                                305310315                                                                     ACGTTTAATTTTCCAAAAGCTGATTTGAGCGATGTGCACAATGCTGGC1289                           ThrPheAsnPheProLysAlaAspLeuSerAspValHisAsnAlaGly                               320 325330                                                                     AATGGGGCAGATAATTGGCGGCTTGAGCAATTACGCTGGTTTGATTAC1337                           AsnGlyAlaAspAsnTrpArgLeuGluGlnLeuArgTrpPheAspTyr                               335 340345                                                                     TGGCTAAAAGGAATAGATAACGGAATTATGGATGAAGATCCGGTCAAG1385                           TrpLeuLysGlyIleAspAsnGlyIleMetAspGluAspProValLys                               350355 360365                                                                  CTTTATATTATGAAGGGTGAAAATGATGGCTTCTGGCGCACGGAAAAG1433                           LeuTyrIleMetLysGlyGluAsnAspGlyPheTrpArgThrGluLys                               370 375380                                                                     GAGTGGCCGATAGCTCGCACCGAATATACAAACTACTATCTTCATGAT1481                           GluTrpProIleAlaArgThrGluTyrThrAsnTyrTyrLeuHisAsp                               385 390395                                                                     GGTAAATCTGGAACGATTGATTCATTGAATGATGGCATTCTGAGCACC1529                           GlyLysSerGlyThrIleAspSerLeuAsnAspGlyIleLeuSerThr                               400 405410                                                                     GAAAAGCCAAAATCTGGTAAAAAAGCTGATTCTTATCTTTATGATCCG1577                           GluLysProLysSerGlyLysLysAlaAspSerTyrLeuTyrAspPro                               415420 425                                                                     AAAAACCCAACGCCGACTGTGGGCGGAAATATTAGCGGAACGACACCA1625                           LysAsnProThrProThrValGlyGlyAsnIleSerGlyThrThrPro                               430435440 445                                                                  AATGATGAGCGAGGTCCACAAGATCAGCAGGGTATTGAAAAAGATGTG1673                           AsnAspGluArgGlyProGlnAspGlnGlnGlyIleGluLysAspVal                               450455 460                                                                     CTTACCTACACAACAGAGGTGCTGAATGAGGACACAGAAGTAACTGGC1721                           LeuThrTyrThrThrGluValLeuAsnGluAspThrGluValThrGly                               465470 475                                                                     CCGATTAAGGTGAAGCTTTGGGCATCAACTAACGCTAAGGACACTGAC1769                           ProIleLysValLysLeuTrpAlaSerThrAsnAlaLysAspThrAsp                               480485 490                                                                     TTTGCTGTTAAATTAACGGATGTCTATCCTGACGGACGTTCCATCATC1817                           PheAlaValLysLeuThrAspValTyrProAspGlyArgSerIleIle                               495500505                                                                       ATTCAAGACAGCATTATCCGCGGCCGATACCATGAATCCCGTGAAAAA1865                          IleGlnAspSerIleIleArgGlyArgTyrHisGluSerArgGluLys                               5105155205 25                                                                  GAAACCTTATTAGAGCCAGGGAAAATCTATGAATTTACGATTGACCTA1913                           GluThrLeuLeuGluProGlyLysIleTyrGluPheThrIleAspLeu                               530535 540                                                                     GGCTCAACGGCTAATATATTTAAAAAGGGACATCGCATCCGTGTAGAT1961                           GlySerThrAlaAsnIlePheLysLysGlyHisArgIleArgValAsp                               545550555                                                                      GTTTCCAGCAGTAACTATCCTAGATTCGATAATAACCCGAATACAGGA2009                           ValSerSerSerAsnTyrProArgPheAspAsnAsnProAsnThrGly                               560565570                                                                      CAT AAGTTTGGCAATGATGCCGCTATGAAGACAGCGAAAAATACGATT2057                          HisLysPheGlyAsnAspAlaAlaMetLysThrAlaLysAsnThrIle                               575580585                                                                      TATCATGATTCA GAGCATCCGTCACATATTATATTGCCAATTATTCCA2105                          TyrHisAspSerGluHisProSerHisIleIleLeuProIleIlePro                               590595600605                                                                   AATGAATA ATTTCAAGGGGCTGGCTCACGTGCCAGCCCTGTTTTTTTTCAAAAGCT2161                  AsnGlu                                                                         TTTGCAAAATAGGGAAAATTGCTCAATAATAGAATTGTACATAAAGGGGGAATCAGCAAT2221               GAGAGGAATTATTCACAACGCAGCACGTGAAATGTCAAAGGAAGATGT GGAAACATTTTT2281              ACAACAAGCCGAAGTGGTCCATGTGGCTACAACCGGAAAAGACGGCTACCCATATGTCAT2341               TCCTTTGGTGTATGTCTATGAAGGCGGTCCTAAGTTTTATATTCATACAGGCAATCTGAG2401               AGAAAGCCATTTTGAACAGAATATT AAAGAAAATCCTCGAGTGTGTATTGAGGTAGAGCA2461              AATGGGT2468                                                                    (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 634 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:                                        MetAsnArgLysLysLysPheLeuSerMetLeuLeuThrValLeuLeu                               27-25-20-15                                                                    ValThrSerLeuPheSerSerValAlaPheGlyGlnS erGluGlnGlu                              10- 515                                                                        LysAlaGluGluLeuTyrGlnTyrGluLeuLysThrAspValMetVal                               1015 20                                                                        GluMetArgAspGlyValLysLeuProThrAspIleTyrLeuProVal                               253035                                                                         AlaLysThrGluGlnGluLysLysAspGlyPheProThrLeuValPhe                                404550                                                                        ArgThrProTyrAsnLysAspThrTyrGlyLysThrGluGlyProPhe                               556065                                                                         PheAlaLysArgGlyTyrAlaValV alValGlnAspThrArgGlyArg                              70758085                                                                       TyrLysSerGluGlyGluTrpAsnPheValPheAspAspAlaLysAsp                               90 95100                                                                       GlyTyrAspLeuIleGluTrpAlaAlaValGlnAspPheSerThrGly                               105110115                                                                      LysValGlyThrMetGlyLeuSerTyrMetAlaTyrThr GlnTyrVal                              120125130                                                                      LeuAlaGluSerLysProProHisLeuValThrMetIleProLeuGlu                               135140145                                                                      GlyMetSerAsnPr oAlaGluGluValPhePheThrGlyGlyAlaMet                              150155160165                                                                   GlnLeuAspArgTyrLeuSerTrpThrLeuGlyGlnAlaValAspThr                               170 175180                                                                     AlaArgArgLeuAspGluLysAsnGlyAsnThrValAsnGlnAspLys                               185190195                                                                      IleLysLysAlaLeuAspAspTyrGluL ysTrpLeuAsnHisMetPro                              200205210                                                                      ArgSerLysValAlaProLeuAsnGlnMetIleAspTrpTrpLysGlu                               215220225                                                                      Ala MetAspHisProGluTyrAspGluTyrTrpLysSerIleSerPro                              230235240245                                                                   GlnGluGlnHisAspThrTrpProValProThrTyrHisValGlyGly                                250255260                                                                     TrpTyrAspIleLeuLeuAsnGlyThrSerLysAsnTyrIleGlyIle                               265270275                                                                      ThrGluAsnGlyProTh rGluArgTyrLeuProAlaLeuGluLysThr                              280285290                                                                      ValAsnIleGlnAspThrGlnLysLeuLeuIleGlyProTrpThrHis                               295300 305                                                                     GlyTyrProGlnThrAlaValGlyThrPheAsnPheProLysAlaAsp                               310315320325                                                                   LeuSerAspValHisAsnAlaGlyAsnGlyAlaAspAsnTrpA rgLeu                              330335340                                                                      GluGlnLeuArgTrpPheAspTyrTrpLeuLysGlyIleAspAsnGly                               345350355                                                                      IleMet AspGluAspProValLysLeuTyrIleMetLysGlyGluAsn                              360365370                                                                      AspGlyPheTrpArgThrGluLysGluTrpProIleAlaArgThrGlu                               375 380385                                                                     TyrThrAsnTyrTyrLeuHisAspGlyLysSerGlyThrIleAspSer                               390395400405                                                                   LeuAsnAspGlyIleLeuSerThrGluLysPr oLysSerGlyLysLys                              410415420                                                                      AlaAspSerTyrLeuTyrAspProLysAsnProThrProThrValGly                               425430 435                                                                     GlyAsnIleSerGlyThrThrProAsnAspGluArgGlyProGlnAsp                               440445450                                                                      GlnGlnGlyIleGluLysAspValLeuThrTyrThrThrGluValLeu                               455 460465                                                                     AsnGluAspThrGluValThrGlyProIleLysValLysLeuTrpAla                               470475480485                                                                   SerThrAsnAlaLysAspThr AspPheAlaValLysLeuThrAspVal                              490495500                                                                      TyrProAspGlyArgSerIleIleIleGlnAspSerIleIleArgGly                               505510 515                                                                     ArgTyrHisGluSerArgGluLysGluThrLeuLeuGluProGlyLys                               520525530                                                                      IleTyrGluPheThrIleAspLeuGlySerThrAlaAsnIlePh eLys                              535540545                                                                      LysGlyHisArgIleArgValAspValSerSerSerAsnTyrProArg                               550555560565                                                                   PheAspAsn AsnProAsnThrGlyHisLysPheGlyAsnAspAlaAla                              570575580                                                                      MetLysThrAlaLysAsnThrIleTyrHisAspSerGluHisProSer                               585 590595                                                                     HisIleIleLeuProIleIleProAsnGlu                                                 600605                                                                     

We claim:
 1. An isolated and purified 7-(4carboxybutanamido)-3-acetoxymethyl-3-cephem-4-carboxylic acid (GL-7-ACA) acylase having the following characteristics:(a) catalyzes the enzymatic conversion of glutaryl 7 aminocephalosporic acid (7-ACA), adipyl 7-ACA, and succinyl 7-ACA, into 7-aminocephalosporanic acid, (b) has a molecular weight of 70,000 daltons (SDS-PAGE) (c) has an N-terminal amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) of the formula:

    Gln-Ser-Glu-Gln-Glu-Lys-Ala-Glu-Glu SEQ ID NO. 1

and (d) is derived from Bacillus laterosporus J1.
 2. The GL-7ACA acylase of claim 1 which consists essentially of the amino acid sequence 1-607 SEQ ID NO.
 2. 3. A process for preparing a compound of the formula (I): ##STR3## wherein R¹ is acetoxy, hydroxy or hydrogen, or a salt thereof, which comprises contacting a compound of the formula (II): ##STR4## wherein R¹ is the same as defined above,R² is carboxy (C₁ -C₆) alkanoyl, or D-glutamyl, or a salt thereofwith the cultured broth of a transformant transformed by an expression vector comprising a DNA sequence which encodes the GL-7ACA acylase of claim 1 or 2 or its processed material.
 4. The process of claim 3, wherein said transformant is a cell of the species Escherichia coli or Bacillus subtilis. 